Shell “Sorry” to the people of the Niger Delta

This was a spoof by the Yes Men to try and get Shell to retract an apology they never made. Unfortunately it didn’t work – they tried, we tried but it fell flat as a bloody pancake on a wet rainy day in London!

Finally a multinational corporation which has systematically abused and destroyed the environment and livelihood of millions in the Niger Delta over the past 45 years has issued an apology for its crimes against the people and the ecology system.
Update as more news flows in from Shell International on this admission of guilt

Today, Royal Dutch Shell is holding back the tears no more. Shell apologises to all inhabitants of Nigeria’s Niger Delta for the many years of human rights violations, for which Shell takes full responsibility.

Confronted with massive evidence of human rights violations that can only be attributed to its operations in the Niger Delta, Royal Dutch Shell is extremely proud to be the first international petrochemical company to publicly say:

We are sorry.

Since Shell first discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956, the company has ravished the land and polluted the environment. “We thought these people didn’t know what was good for them,” explains Bradford Houppe, Vice-President of Shell’s newly established Ethical Affairs Committee. “We never knew that we were bringing them impoverishment, conflict, abuse and deprivation. Now we know.” Shell acknowledges that it is responsible for large-scale oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring. Each year, hundreds of oil spills occur, many of which are caused by corrosion of oil pipes and poor maintenance of infrastructure. “Our failure to deal with these spills swiftly and the lack of effective clean-up greatly exacerbate their human rights and environmental impact,” says Houppe. “And that is wrong. It’s just really wrong.”

More than 60 per cent of the people in the Niger Delta depend on the natural environment for their livelihood. But due to the oil pollution, many of them use polluted water to drink and to cook and wash with, and eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins. Oil spills and waste dumping have also seriously damaged agricultural land……Continued .

[…] is suddenly on everyone’s radar. Over the past couple of weeks we have seen the Shell Sorry campaign launched in The Hague; the BBC2 drama “Blood and Oil” set in the Niger Delta; the Channel 4 Unreported World […]